The proliferation of three-dimensional (3-D) stereo cameras and related depth sensing methods, along with 3D printers and 3-D display devices has created a new set of challenges in regard to the processing and enhancement of 3-D images. More particularly, the quality of captured 3-D images may suffer from the effects of sub-optimal lighting conditions existing at the time of capture, such as glare or dimly lit regions. Although standard computer graphics methods may be used to enhance the 3D images and change lighting effects, provided that the 3D depth information from surfaces of objects in the images is provided, there are currently no suitable standardized methods by which such captured images can be enhanced to change 3-D lighting, or to reduce or remove the effects of sub-optimal lighting conditions.
There are various techniques that may be used during image capture that also capture depth information associated with image texture information. The depth information is processed to produce a point cloud or a depth map with a three dimensional (3D) polygonal mesh that defines the shape of 3D objects within the image. After processing, the depth information may be represented in several formats, including, but not limited to, an X, Y, and Z point cloud in a 3D space or a 3D surface mesh of triangles or quadrilaterals. Other formats for representing depth information can include an XML encoded format, a textual format, or a graphical format such as OpenGL.
The same numbers are used throughout the disclosure and the figures to reference like components and features. Numbers in the 100 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 1; numbers in the 200 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 2; and so on.